Concealed wall safe



Jan. 31, 1956 J. P. STEIN 2,732,316

CONCEALED WALL SAFE Original Filed Dec. 5, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet l 3mm J se M2 fie/'77 %WWM Jan. 31, 1956 J. P. STEIN 2,732,816

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CONCEALED WALL SAFE Original Filed Dec. 5, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 j I l 3 g 3 7v our/.57 I AND HOUSE can?! United States Patent CONCEALED WALL SAFE Joseph P. Stein, Los Angeles, Calif.

Original application December 5, 1949, Serial No. 131,196. Divided and this application October 22, 1952, Serial No. 316,160

3 Claims. (Cl. 109-59) The invention relates to safes, and more particularly to a safe designed to be concealed in the wall of a building where it may be covered by the wall paper or otherwise camouflaged so as not to give the appearance of a safe.

The present application is a division of my application Serial No. 131,196, filed December 5, 1949, now Patent No. 2,633,010, dated March 31, 1953.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a safe which may be built into the wall of a room, either of a residence or of an oflice building, and which may be so concealed that its presence in the room will not be suspected except by authorized persons.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wall safe of substantial construction so that it cannot be readily opened by unauthorized persons even when its presence and location are known.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wall safe including a body portion of knock-down construction to facilitate large scale production and ready shipping.

A further object is to provide a wall safe in which a door opens outwardly and is prevented from inward move ment by a suitable ledge or abutment formed within the Walls of the safe surrounding the door opening.

A further object of the invention is to provide a safe having a remotely controlled door latching device coupled with means for automatically swinging the safe door to open position as soon as the door latch is released.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved spring-pressed or spring loaded door opening device in connection with each of the hinges of the safe door, which spring-pressed device in cooperation with the remotely controlled latch releasing device will cause the door to swing outwardly to open position at the will of the operator, who may be at a position remote from the safe itself.

A further object of the invention is to provide a remotely controlled solenoid-actuated latching means for the safe door whereby the owner of the safe by merely pressing a suitable push button switch at any suitable location may release the door latch, thus permitting the door to instantaneously and automatically swing outwardly by suitable spring-actuated mechanism.

A further object is to provide an instantaneous release mechanism for the door latch controlled by a springpressed plunger type switch.

Other distinctive features of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawings and the following detail description, in which a specific embodiment of the invention is set forth by way of illustration rather than by way of limitation.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic showing of a portion of a room equipped with my improved wall safe and showing the wiring, which controls the actuation of the safe door, extending to a position remote from the safe;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view showing the safe installed in a wall;

2,732,816 Patented Jan. 31, 1956 Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 through the safe;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the safe showing the door partly open;

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of the safe showing the easing and body portions thereof separated prior to assemy;

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the safe;

Fig. 8 is a detail horizontal section through part of the wall and a portion of the door showing one of the springpressed hinges with which the door is equipped, the door being shown open;

Fig. 9 is a similar view with the door shut;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a push button type quick break switch adapted for instantaneous control of the circuit in which is located the solenoid which controls the door latch;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the door latch and actuating mechanism therefor;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the safe showing the door latch in latched position in the safe door, portions of the latch and operating mechanism therefor being shown in elevation;

Fig. 13 is a section on line 13-13 of Fig. 12; and

Fig. 14 is a section on line 14-14 of Fig. 12.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, A denotes generally the wall of a room, which may be either the wall of a residence or of a business office, which is to be equipped with the concealed Wall safe constituting the present invention. Such a safe is indicated diagrammatically at B and is adapted to be built into the wall with the door portion thereof flush with the outer surface of the wall. The door of the safe may be painted over or paper may be placed over the door, or the door of the safe may be camouflaged as a picture, or other means may be employed so that the door of the safe will be inconspicuous. The safe door is arranged to swing outwardly only and is normally latched in closed position. The door latch is remotely controlled as by means of a solenoid S concealed within the wall portion of the safe. The solenoid is normally inoperative and the door catch is held in projected position by a suitable spring, but when the solenoid is actuated momentarily the door is adapted to be swung outwardly by concealed spring-pressed means. The solenoid S is included in a circuit C extending through the wall and including a wall outlet D into which may be inserted an instantaneous type spring-pressed quick break switch E of any suitable construction which, when the push button of the switch E is pressed, causes current to flow momentarily through the solenoid S, thereby energizing the same and retracting the door latch, allowing the door to swing outwardly by spring action. If the door of the safe has been papered over it is obvious that the paper must either be cut away prior to opening the door or the door actuating spring should be sufficiently strong to cause the door to tear away the paper in opening. The wall outlet D is preferably hidden in a closet or is otherwise concealed so as not to be readily observed or apparent to anyone other than the owner of the safe. The outlet D may be of the so-called twist lock type disclosed in Hubbell Patent No. 1,771,729, dated July 29, 1930, and is adapted to coact with a plug which may be detachably carried by the switch member E, or the switch member E may be remotely connected to the plug through suitable wires so that the switch may be carried from place to place by the owner. A detachable plug may also be included in the circuit at the end of the solenoid S remote from the latch 28.

The completed safe B as supplied to a customer and in; stalled in the building wall comprises side walls 10, 11, a rear wall 12, a top wall 13, a bottom wall 14 and an outwardly swinging door portion suitably hinged to one of the side walls. The top, bottom and side walls are all suitably recessed at their front portions to provide a ledge or abutment 16 surrounding the door opening, thereby preventing the door from being forced inwardly. The walls and door of the safe are preferably metal lined, as indicated at 17, and the body portion 18 (Fig. 6) including the top, bottom and rear walls, is of knock-down construction and is adapted to be inserted in a metal casing 19 into which the body is suitably fitted prior to installation. The safe door 15 is preferably metal encased throughout.

The body portion 18 is of knock-down construction and may be formed of a plurality of dished sections composed of metal or other suitable material adapted to be interfitted one with another and secured together by means of suitable bolts or the like 21. This construction permits the parts of the safe to be rapidly produced by mass production methods and inexpensively shipped in knock-down form to a place of assembly where the parts may be easily fitted together to form the complete safe prior to installa tion in a wall of the residence or office of an individual user. The safe may be divided into any desired number of compartments by means of partitions or shelves 22. Each of the walls of the safe is in the form of a dished or hollow frame into which suitable loose insulating material 23, such as asbestos, rock wool, glass fiber, or the like may be fitted to render the safe substantially fireproof. As shown, the partitions or shelves 22 are provided with flexible prongs 22 extending through the side walls and bent over to assist in holding the side walls together and to insure a tight fit of the various parts of the safe.

The safe door 15 is provided with concealed hinges 25 which may be of the general type disclosed in Soss Patent No. 2,040,279, dated May 12, 1936, or other suitable hinges may be employed. In accordance with my invention the hinges 25 are provided with spring-pressed plunger means 26 secured to one swinging portion of the hinge and concealed in the door 15. The function of the springpressed plunger mechanism is to cause the door to instantaneously swing to open position as soon as the door latch mechanism is released. The spring should be of sufficient strength to instantaneously open the door on the release of the door catch.

In the side wall 11 opposite the side wall 10 in which the hinges 25 are mounted, I provide suitable actuating and control means 27 for the spring-pressed catch or latch 28, which catch is normally retained in an outwardly projected position, in which it is adapted to engage a suitable recessed portion in the edge of the door remote from the hinges 25 and to hold the door in closed position until the latch is released.

As shown in Fig. 12 the latch 28 is normally projected outwardly by means of a spring 29 which engages a shoulder 30 on an actuating rod 31 connected to latch 28 through a bell crank 32. The latch control mechanism also includes a solenoid coil 33 which when energized by the closing of a suitable circuit moves the latch actuating rod 31 against the force of the spring 29, thus releasing the door latch. When the latch is released the spring-pressed plunger mechanism associated with the door hinges swings the door open so that access may be had to the interior. The solenoid is only energized for an instant and as soon as the energizing circuit is broken the spring 29 again projects the door catch so that when the door is closed it will be automatically retained in latched position.

The invention has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration but it will be obvious that numerous modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A safe adapted to be concealed in a wall or the like and having a smooth exterior throughout, comprising a body portion of knock-down construction, the body portion including a pair of side walls of dished construction, a top and a bottom wall interfitting with said side walls, and upper and lower sets of bolts connecting said side walls and top and bottom Walls and extending through the interfitting portions of the side walls and top and bottom walls and from side wall to side wall, a unitary metal casing enclosing the body portion, and fireproof insulating material enclosed between the body walls and the metal casing, and shelves or partitions extending between the side walls provided with prongs extending through the side walls and bent over to assist in holding the side walls together.

2. A safe adapted to be concealed in a wall or the like and having a smooth exterior throughout, comprising a body portion of knock-down construction, the body portion including a pair of side walls of dished construction, a top and a bottom wall interfitting with said side Walls, and upper and lower sets of bolts connecting said side walls and top and bottom walls and extending through the interfitting portions of the side walls and top and bottom walls and from side wall to side wall, a unitary metal casing enclosing the body portion, fireproof insulating material enclosed between the body walls and the metal casing, shelves or partitions extending between the side walls provided with prongs extending through the side walls and bent over to assist in holding the side walls together, and an outwardly opening metal encased door for said wall safe.

3. A wall safe adapted to be concealed in a wall or the like and having a smooth exterior throughout, comprising a body portion including interfitted dished Walls, means comprising upper and lower sets of bolts extending through the interfitted parts and from side wall to side wall for releasably securing said walls together in as sembled position, a unitary metallic casing for said body portion, fireproofing material interposed between said walls and said casing, shelves or partitions extending between the side walls provided with prongs extending through the side walls and bent over to assist in holding the side walls together, an outwardly swinging door for said safe, concealed spring-pressed means for urging said door to open position, concealed spring-pressed latch mechanism for retaining the door in closed position, and remote control means for actuating said latch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 816,792 Green et al Apr. 3, 1906 936,003 Malinovszky Oct. 5, 1909 1,054,325 Wege Feb. 25, 1913 1,422,726 Mahar July 11, 1922 1,759,723 Weld May 20, 1930 2,213,187 Donahey Sept. 3, 1940 2,492,422 Govan Dec. 27, 1949 2,512,776 Queen June 27, 1950 2,633,010 Stein Mar. 31, 1953 

